This invention relates to storage cabinets having a plurality of drawers. More particularly, this invention relates to a multi-drawer cabinet with a retaining/locking system for preventing cabinet drawers from opening at inappropriate times, such as when the cabinet may be shaken or moved, as in a moving vehicle.
In today""s increasingly mobile society, more and more entrepreneurs and craftsmen have a need to travel to customers and other locations with a full set of tools, parts and other items. For many skilled workers, a large number of items often must be transported, sometimes several times a day, in a truck, van, trailer or other vehicle.
Numerous types of multi-drawer storage cabinets, tool boxes and the like are commercially available today for organizing and storing work items, and some of these cabinets may be mounted or placed in a vehicle, such as in the back of a truck or van. A recurring problem, however, is that as the vehicle is driven over rough roads, or when the vehicle turns a corner or starts or stops suddenly, the cabinet is frequently shaken or jarred, and may even slide around or fall over in the vehicle if the cabinet is not fixed to the vehicle. When this happens, the cabinet drawers tend to come open unexpectedly and spill their contents at inappropriate times. Similar undesirable shaking and movable environments are also found on boats and aircraft.
A similar problem also exists in some factories, repair shops or other work environments. For example, if the storage cabinet is located in a busy work area, workers sometimes inadvertently bump into the cabinet, causing some of the drawers to open at inconvenient times. Likewise, if the cabinet is located in an area prone to vibration or exposed to vehicles or heavy equipment, the cabinet may be shaken or jolted unexpectedly, thus causing the drawers to open.
In the past, it has not been feasible to lock and unlock an entire bank of several rows of drawers with one easy movement. One makeshift solution has been for the user to tie rope, cord or flexible straps around the cabinet. But this method has many drawbacks. For example, for cabinets with multiple rows of drawers, each row of drawers must be individually wrapped with a separate piece of rope going around the entire cabinet, which is a time-consuming chore, especially if the cabinet drawers need to be opened and closed frequently. In addition, it is often difficult to wrap rope around a cabinet that is placed flush against a wall or side of a vehicle, or adjacent to other heavy objects. Also, rope has a tendency to slip, become untied or break.
There is also a need for a retaining or locking system that can be both quickly engaged and disengaged by a user needing quick access to the contents of the drawers, especially when a separate lock for the cabinet may not be needed. For example, the cabinet may be located in the back of a van that already has lockable doors, so that a lock on the cabinet may not be needed for security. In this case, a primary function of a cabinet drawer retaining device would be mainly to prevent the drawers from coming out and spilling their contents when the vehicle carrying the cabinet turns a corner or runs over a pothole or other rough road surface. A separate lock on the cabinet could be provided, but may not be necessary.
Thus, a need exists for a simple, inexpensive and easy-to-use device for retaining or locking the drawers of a multi-drawer cabinet with one easy movement, in an environment where the cabinet is frequently shaken or otherwise subject to unpredictable movement, such as in a moving vehicle.
Various types of drawer locking devices for cabinets have been proposed in the prior art. See, for example, the following U.S. Patents: Laakso U.S. Pat. No. 5,685,622; Frederiksen et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,925,257; Aschinger U.S. Pat. No. 4,303,288; Breckner et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,976,343; Coombs U.S. Pat. No. 1,315,709; Weiss U.S. Pat. No. 1,225,294; Upton U.S. Pat. No. 788,966; Stoeffler U.S. Pat. No. 732,971; and Hall U.S. Pat. No. 341,746.
For the most part, the devices in the prior art are intended for use with paper file cabinets that are stationary, not tool or parts cabinets, especially those in a mobile or shaking environment such as a vehicle. In addition, prior art cabinet drawer locking devices are generally internal to the cabinet and are designed to be manufactured as an integral part of the cabinet. Cabinets originally made without a lock generally cannot be retrofitted with these prior art locking devices. Also, the cabinets and locking devices of the prior art generally use several moving parts, thus adding complexity and expense to the manufacture of the cabinet.
To overcome the aforementioned disadvantages of the prior art, disclosed is a simple, inexpensive and easy-to-use cabinet and drawer retaining/locking system particularly well adapted for use with a mobile storage cabinet having a plurality of rows of drawers that can be pulled open horizontally.
The retaining/locking system of the present invention has only one moving part. The moving part is a rigid cage or frame positioned in front of the cabinet drawers and held in place by tracking systems mounted on either side of the cabinet. When engaged in a secured or locked position, the cage physically prevents the entire bank of drawers from opening, even if the cabinet is shaking or moving.
The retaining/locking cage consists of a plurality of approximately parallel bars, held together by a rectangular frame. In an engaged position, the cage presses against the external front surface of each cabinet drawer to prevent all drawers from opening. Guide pins formed on each corner of the cage slidably engage with carefully positioned and shaped slots in tracking systems mounted on either side of the cabinet. The weight of the cage, together with guide pin retainers on the guide pins, hold the cage in place.
In an engaged position, the cage is held against the front of all the drawers of the cabinet. Each bar of the cage is positioned directly in front of each row of drawers. The position of the bars relative to the cabinet drawers is determined by careful vertical positioning of slots in the side-mounted tracks. In this arrangement, in the engaged position, the cage physically prevents all cabinet drawers in all rows (i.e., the entire bank of drawers) from opening, even if the entire cabinet is moving or shaking.
The cage may be moved into a disengaged position by lifting the cage slightly upward; swiveling the bottom of the cage outwardly away from the cabinet to remove the guide pins from the slots; sliding the cage down the tracks; swiveling the bottom of the cage toward the cabinet; and then inserting the guide pins into different, opening slots in the tracks. The opening slots are carefully positioned relative to the rows of drawers so that, in the disengaged position, each bar rests in front of the space between adjacent rows of drawers. In this arrangement, any or all of the drawers may be pulled out through the spaces between the bars, to permit the user to gain access to the items within the drawers. Meanwhile, the entire cage remains mounted on the front of the cabinet (although not directly in front of the drawers) for easy re-engagement if needed. Re-engagement is accomplished by reversing the above-described sequence of movements. The cage may also be entirely removed from the cabinet if desired. The retaining/locking system may be either built into a cabinet at the time of manufacture, or retrofitted to a suitable existing cabinet.